image taken from www.aeroforceone.com

Aerosmith without a doubt are one of the greatest bands out there. The news of their coming hit us like a stroke, our gang’s cell phones were immediately set on fire in order to spread the news, such great news.  Disclaimer 1: if you are reading this and you are coming from the US – you probably already have seen Aerosmith a couple of times in your life. For us here in Greece, news like that are similar to earthquake disasters or even tsunami. End of Disclaimer.

image taken from www.aeroforceone.com

Tickets sales:
As always, we bought our ticket six months before the event. For start, this wasn’t a clever thing to do ‘cause you might end up with the ticket up in your arse baring in mind that Tyler is experiencing mid- life crisis issues and the chances to blow the whole event in the air are enormous. Anyway, we did buy them (80 fucking euros, for the fucking arena) and now had to wait.

image take from www.airforceone.com

2 Weeks before:
Everything was smoothly floating. We were almost there. It was happening for real. No one announced any cancellation so far and the weather seemed to be on our side. Disclaimer 2: The weather must always be on your side when it comes to concerts. Why? Because the promoters are never taking any precautions – so if it rains and the stage is naked the equipment will be destroyed and the concert will not take place. But can this happen for real you might think my fellow friend from the US? Yeap, the exact same thing happened with the Motley Crue concert – disaster. End of disclaimer.

image taken from www.airforceone.com

1 week before/ 2 tickets for free:
No I am not yet relaxed. I will be though by the time Tyler hits the stage and shouts a couple of yeah,yeah,yeah! But let’s examine the “2 tickets variant”. We managed to have two tickets for free. Terrific news. So we thought giving them to two close friends for free. The first one accepted the ticket but afterwards declined the invitation due to some arrangement he made with a chick. Disclaimer 3: Hell-o, am I hearing this – you are not accepting a free Aerosmith ticket for a chick that broke your balls some months ago. You better score big freak! End of disclaimer.

The other one didn’t accept the invitation from the beginning. “I don’t like Aerosmith” he said! “OK! But, you ain’t going to pay shit- it’s free” I said. “I know man, and I thank you for thinking of me, but I don’t wanna see them even for free” he said. “Σε γράφω στ’αρχίδια μου” I said in Greek that states in English something like “Who gives a shit”.      

Sunday / the time has come
We were out of the stadium.  The outside area was filled with thousands of people. It was time to go in when…… we heard some riffing – I look at my cousin/friend John and simultaneously shouted yeah! We made it, we skipped the support act. Disclaimer 4: After some years of gig-ing around we decided that it would be wise to skip the support acts. Sorry but we are not sharing the same excitement as we did when we were younger. End of disclaimer.

After 45 minutes, the support finished and we were in the stadium along with some more friends, Jim (Dimitris) and his gorgeous cousin Jenny. We bought some beers, we took some pictures and waited in a good mood but without knowing what to expect. Disclaimer 5: Many believe that is not worth the money or the excitement to see bands that were big at 70’s or 80’s, after 35 years. I don’t know, perhaps they are correct but on the other hand when I saw KISS or BLACK SABBATH (with Ozzy) a couple of years ago the thing as a whole even though it had it’s down times was absolutely perfect. End of disclaimer.

image take from www.airforceone.com

The sun went down, the moon was up and Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35 by Bob Dylan was warming up the crowd while anticipation heart beats reached madness level. Boom! “Love in an Elevator” is the first track of the evening and Tyler looks in a great mood, he doesn’t waste any time to communicate with the crowd and everyone (especially the ladies in the front line) seems ecstatic.

His voice is in a good “shape”. He’s experiencing some downtimes here and there but the band helps him with some solos. And even though there were a lot of ballads in the set (Crazy, Cryin‘, I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing) Tyler respectfully earns crowds applause and Joe Perry’s comment about being the “Demon Of Screamin”.

The night carried on in the same level of excitement. Joe Perry did incredible magic with his guitar – the man performed like there was no tomorrow – making the boys in the crowd cum to early. He even broke his guitar at the end of the show and that was something unexpected.      

The rest of the band, Brad Whitford (rhythm guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass) and Joey Kramer (drums) they are all exceptional musicians “holding the back walls” and giving air time for Perry and Tyler to perform. 

After 18 songs (set list below) it was now time for the encore. The band went out again and Dream On was the first track of the last three (Walk This Way and Toys in the Attic). Hands were all up in the air. The whole stadium was now singing and clapping.  Tyler after two hours of screaming (like he new what we were expecting) left us with our mouth wide open – by singing the last part of Dream On like he did in ’73. 

Incredible evening. Aerosmith showed their appreciation and respect to the audience, to the enormous ticket price paid, to the 35 years of waiting, to the fact that this was the first and the last time we are seeing them in Greece.

Ps: the first one who declined the free ticket – didn’t score that evening. Bitch.

-manoc-

Set list:
Intro: Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (Bob Dylan)
Love In An Elevator
Back In The Saddle
Falling In Love (Is Hard On The Knees)
Eat The Rich
Pink
Livin’ On The Edge
What It Takes
Rag Doll
Crazy
Cryin’
Drum solo
Lord Of The Thighs
Stop Messin’ Around
I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing
Sweet Emotion
Guitar solo – Third Stone From The Sun
Baby Please Don’t Go
Draw The Line
———————–
Dream On
Walk This Way
Toys In The Attic